Search

The chemistry and aerosols in ice core records are used as proxy data for the past climate. Traditional interpretation of this recorded climate signal is that during formation snow captures a snapshot of the atmosphere. In recent years, observations have documented that the snow surface’s chemistry and isotopic composition change during the post-depositional interaction with the surface-near atmosphere. To more accurately interpret the climate signal in ice cores it is necessary to understand thesource of the water vapor in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), as well as the vertical mixing and transportation in the polar atmosphere. However, the dynamics in the polar PBL are poorly constrained in most climate models due to a lack of observations. Here we present insights from the first Arctic in-situ water-vapor isotope record both within and above the PBL up to 1500 meters above the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) from the EastGRIP ice core camp 2022 field campaign. Flights were performed with a fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft recording high resolution atmospheric profiles. Moreover, air is sampled in glass flasks and brought to the surface for determination of δ18O and δDof water vapor. The observational set-up has been proven to guarantee reliable measurements of the isotopic composition of the atmospheric water vapor in remote locations and under extremely cold temperatures. Based on 105 observed temperature, humidity and isotopic profiles we identify different types of atmospheric structure above the GrIS. We evaluate the vertical atmospheric representation of the polar regional climate model MAR and the isotope-enabled global climate model ECHAM-wiso. Finally, from observations we estimate the height up to which the surface-near δ18O and δD isotopic values are affected by the atmosphere above.

Above polar ice sheets, atmospheric water vapor exchange occurs across the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and is an important mechanism in a number of processes that affect the surface mass balance of the ice sheets. Yet, this exchange is not well understood and has substantial implications for modeling and remote sensing of the polar hydrologic cycle. Efforts to characterize the exchange face substantial logistical challenges including the remoteness of ice sheet field camps, extreme weather conditions, low humidity and temperature that limit the effectiveness of instruments, and dangers associated with flying manned aircraft at low altitudes. Here, we present an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sampling platform for operation in extreme polar environments that is capable of sampling atmospheric water vapor for subsequent measurement of water isotopes. This system was deployed to the East Greenland Ice-core Project (EastGRIP) camp in northeast Greenland during summer 2019. Four sampling flight missions were completed. With a suite of atmospheric measurements aboard the UAV (temperature, humidity, pressure, GPS) we determine the height of the PBL using online algorithms, allowing for strategic decision-making by the pilot to sample water isotopes above and below the PBL. Water isotope data were measured by a Picarro L2130-i instrument using flasks of atmospheric air collected within the nose cone of the UAV. The internal repeatability for δD and δ18O was 2.8 ‰ and 0.45 ‰, respectively, which we also compared to independent EastGRIP tower-isotope data. Based on these results, we demonstrate the efficacy of this new UAV-isotope platform and present improvements to be utilized in future polar field campaigns. The system is also designed to be readily adaptable to other fields of study, such as measurement of carbon cycle gases or remote sensing of ground conditions.

An ice core drilled on the Renland ice cap in east-central Greenland contains a continuous climate record dating through the last glacial period. The Renland record is valuable because the coastal environment is more likely to reflect regional sea surface conditions compared to inland Greenland ice cores that capture synoptic variability. Here we present the δ18O water isotope record for the Holocene, in which decadal-scale climate information is retained for the last 8 kyr, while the annual water isotope signal is preserved throughout the last 2.6 kyr. To investigate regional climate information preserved in the water isotope record, we apply spectral analysis techniques to a 300-year moving window to determine the mean strength of varying frequency bands through time. We find that the strength of 15–20-year δ18O variability exhibits a millennial-scale signal in line with the well-known Bond events. Comparison to other North Atlantic proxy records suggests that the 15–20-year variability may reflect fluctuating sea surface conditions throughout the Holocene, driven by changes in the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Additional analysis of the seasonal signal over the last 2.6 kyr reveals that the winter δ18O signal has experienced a decreasing trend, while the summer signal has predominantly remained stable. The winter trend may correspond to an increase in Arctic sea ice cover, which is driven by a decrease in total annual insolation, and is also likely influenced by regional climate variables such as atmospheric and oceanic circulation. In the context of anthropogenic climate change, the winter trend may have important implications for feedback processes as sea ice retreats in the Arctic.

This study examines the stable water isotope signal (δ18O) of three ice cores drilled on the Renland peninsula (east Greenland coast). While ice core δ18O measurements qualitatively are a measure of the local temperature history, the δ18O variability in precipitation actually reflects the integrated hydrological activity that the deposited ice experienced from the evaporation source to the condensation site. Thus, as Renland is located next to fluctuating sea ice cover, the transfer function used to infer past temperatures from the δ18O variability is potentially influenced by variations in the local moisture conditions. The objective of this study is therefore to evaluate the δ18O variability of ice cores drilled on Renland and examine the amount of the signal that can be attributed to regional temperature variations. In the analysis, three ice cores are utilized to create stacked summer, winter and annually averaged δ18O signals (1801–2014 CE). The imprint of temperature on δ18O is first examined by correlating the δ18O stacks with instrumental temperature records from east Greenland (1895–2014 CE) and Iceland (1830–2014 CE) and with the regional climate model HIRHAM5 (1980–2014 CE). The results show that the δ18O variability correlates with regional temperatures on both a seasonal and an annual scale between 1910 and 2014, while δ18O is uncorrelated with Iceland temperatures between 1830 and 1909. Our analysis indicates that the unstable regional δ18O–temperature correlation does not result from changes in weather patterns through strengthening and weakening of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Instead, the results imply that the varying δ18O–temperature relation is connected with the volume flux of sea ice exported through Fram Strait (and south along the coast of east Greenland). Notably, the δ18O variability only reflects the variations in regional temperature when the temperature anomaly is positive and the sea ice export anomaly is negative. It is hypothesized that this could be caused by a larger sea ice volume flux during cold years which suppresses the Iceland temperature signature in the Renland δ18O signal. However, more isotope-enabled modeling studies with emphasis on coastal ice caps are needed in order to quantify the mechanisms behind this observation. As the amount of Renland δ18O variability that reflects regional temperature varies with time, the results have implications for studies performing regression-based δ18O–temperature reconstructions based on ice cores drilled in the vicinity of a fluctuating sea ice cover.

Data from the South Pole ice core (SPC14) are used to constrain climate conditions and ice-flow-induced layer thinning for the last 54,000 years. Empirical constraints are obtained from the SPC14 i...

The δD and δ18O values of water are key measurements in polar ice-core research, owing to their strong and well-understood relationship with local temperature. Deuterium excess, d, the deviation from the average linear relationship between δD and δ18O, is also commonly used to provide information about the oceanic moisture sources where polar precipitation originates. Measurements of δ17O and “17O excess” (Δ17O) are also of interest because of their potential to provide information complementary to d. Such measurements are challenging because of the greater precision required, particularly for Δ17O. Here, high-precision measurements are reported for δ17O, δ18O, and δD on a new ice core from the South Pole, using a continuous-flow measurement system coupled to two cavity ring-down laser spectroscopy instruments. Replicate measurements show that at 0.5 cm resolution, external precision is ∼0.2‰ for δ17O and δ18O, and ∼1‰ for δD. For Δ17O, achieving external precision of 17O variations from the South Pole shows significant millennial-scale variability, and is correlated with the logarithmic formulation of deuterium excess (dln), but not the traditional linear formulation (d).

The Dye-3 ice core was drilled to bedrock at the Southern part of the central Greenland ice sheet (65°11'N, 43°50'W) in 1979-1981. The southern location is characterized by high accumulation rates compared to more central locations of the ice sheet. Since its drilling, numerous analyses of the core have been performed, and the ice has since been in freezer storage both in the USA and in Denmark.In October and November 2019, the remaining ice, two mostly complete sections covering the depths of 1753–1820m and 1865–1918m of the Dye-3 core, were melted during a continuous flow analysis (CFA) campaign at the Physics of Ice, Climate, and Earth (PICE) group at the University of Copenhagen. The data represents both Holocene, Younger Dryas and Glacial sections (GS 5 to 12). The measured data consist chemistry and impurities contained in the ice, isotopes, as well as analysis of methane and other atmospheric gases. The chemistry measurements include NH4+, Ca2+, and Na+ ions, which besides being influenced by transport, provide information about forest fires, wind-blown dust, and sea ice, respectively, as well as acidity, which aids in the identification of volcanic events contained in the core. The quantity and grain size distribution of insoluble particles was analyzed by means of an Abakus laser particle counter. We compare the new high-resolution CFA record of dye3 with previous analysis and thus evaluate the progress made over 40 years. Further we compare overlapping time periods with other central Greenland ice cores and discuss spatial patterns in relation to the presented climate proxies.

With recent advances in analytical techniques, water stable isotope ratios can be measured in astounding detail in ice core records (~mm scale or equivalent to subannual resolution). While this has enabled the study of past climates across a vast range of timescales, the full set of processes driving the highest frequency variability in these water isotope records remains poorly understood. In the EastGRIP ice core, we observe a strong relationship between high-frequency water isotope anomalies (sharp transitions on the scale of cms) and variability in the visual stratigraphy of the ice. The water isotope timeseries reveals these anomalies that would otherwise be missed using traditional lower resolution discrete sampling methods (5-50 cm scale). A comparison with the dark-field imaging of stratigraphic layers (high-resolution line-scanning system; 50µm/pix) from the EGRIP ice core indicates a correlation between bubble-free ice layers and the sharp transitions observed in the isotope record. Prior to this comparison, such anomalies in high-resolution isotope records were often dismissed as analytical artifacts. The striking correspondence to the bubble-free ice layers, which is a parameter measured independently from the isotopes, suggests the isotope variability is real. We are investigating a range of depositional and post-depositional processes that may may be able to explain the origin of this variability and its relationship to the physical properties of the ice. This study has implications for frequency analysis of the isotope data, and the related analysis of isotope diffusion and its effects on the recorded climate signal. Understanding these anomalies opens new doors to the interpretation of climate signals in ice cores.

An ice core drilled on the Renland Ice Cap in east-central Greenland contains a continuous climate record dating through the last glacial period. The Renland record is valuable because the coastal environment is more likely to reflect regional sea surface conditions, compared to inland Greenland ice cores that capture synoptic variability. Here we present the δ18O water isotope record for the Holocene, in which decadal-scale climate information is retained for the last 8 ka, and the annual water isotope signal is preserved throughout the last 2.6 ka. To investigate regional climate information preserved in the water isotope record, we apply spectral analysis techniques to a 300-year moving window to determine the mean strength of varying frequency bands through time. The strength of interannual frequency bands decays rapidly, but we find that the mean 15–20 year δ18O variability exhibits a millennial-scale cycle in line with the well-known Bond Cycle. Comparison to other North Atlantic proxy records suggests that the 15–20 year variability may reflect fluctuating sea ice conditions throughout the Holocene, driven by changes in the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Additional analysis of the seasonal signal over the last 2.6 ka reveals that the winter δ18O signal has experienced a decreasing trend, while the summer signal has predominantly remained stable. The winter trend likely corresponds to an increase in Arctic sea ice cover, driven by a decrease in total annual insolation. In the context of anthropogenic climate change, the winter trend may have important implications for feedback processes as sea ice retreats in the Arctic.

Water isotopes in ice cores are used as a climate proxy for local temperature and regional atmospheric circulation as well as evaporative conditions in moisture source regions. Traditional measurements of water isotopes have been achieved using magnetic sector isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). However, a number of recent studies have shown that laser absorption spectrometry (LAS) performs as well or better than IRMS. The new LAS technology has been combined with continuous-flow analysis (CFA) to improve data density and sample throughput in numerous prior ice coring projects. Here, we present a comparable semi-automated LAS-CFA system for measuring high-resolution water isotopes of ice cores. We outline new methods for partitioning both system precision and mixing length into liquid and vapor components – useful measures for defining and improving the overall performance of the system. Critically, these methods take into account the uncertainty of depth registration that is not present in IRMS nor fully accounted for in other CFA studies. These analyses are achieved using samples from a South Pole firn core, a Greenland ice core, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core. The measurement system utilizes a 16-position carousel contained in a freezer to consecutively deliver ∼ 1 m × 1.3 cm2 ice sticks to a temperature-controlled melt head, where the ice is converted to a continuous liquid stream and eventually vaporized using a concentric nebulizer for isotopic analysis. An integrated delivery system for water isotope standards is used for calibration to the Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW) scale, and depth registration is achieved using a precise overhead laser distance device with an uncertainty of ±0.2 mm. As an added check on the system, we perform inter-lab LAS comparisons using WAIS Divide ice samples, a corroboratory step not taken in prior CFA studies. The overall results are important for substantiating data obtained from LAS-CFA systems, including optimizing liquid and vapor mixing lengths, determining melt rates for ice cores with different accumulation and thinning histories, and removing system-wide mixing effects that are convolved with the natural diffusional signal that results primarily from water molecule diffusion in the firn column.

The South Pole Ice Core (SPICEcore) was drilled in 2014–2016 to provide a detailed multi-proxy archive of paleoclimate conditions in East Antarctica during the Holocene and late Pleistocene. Interpretation of these records requires an accurate depth-age relationship. Here, we present the SP19 timescale for the age of the ice of SPICEcore. SP19 is synchronized to the WD2014 chronology from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide (WAIS Divide) ice core using stratigraphic matching of 251 volcanic events. These events indicate an age of 54 302 ± 519 years BP (before the year 1950) at the bottom of SPICEcore. Annual layers identified in sodium and magnesium ions to 11 341 BP were used to interpolate between stratigraphic volcanic tie points, yielding an annually-resolved chronology through the Holocene. Estimated timescale uncertainty during the Holocene is less than 18 years relative to WD2014, with the exception of the interval between 1800 to 3100 BP when uncertainty estimates reach ± 25 years due to widely spaced volcanic tie points. Prior to the Holocene, uncertainties remain within 124 years relative to WD2014. Results show an average Holocene accumulation rate of 7.4 cm/yr (water equivalent). The time variability of accumulation rate is consistent with expectations for steady-state ice flow through the modern spatial pattern of accumulation rate. Time variations in nitrate concentration, nitrate seasonal amplitude, and δ15N of N2 in turn are as expected for the accumulation-rate variations. The highly variable yet well-constrained Holocene accumulation history at the site can help improve scientific understanding of deposition-sensitive climate proxies such as δ15N of N2 and photolyzed chemical compounds.

This study examines the stable water isotope signal (δ18O) of three ice cores drilled on the Renland peninsula (East Greenland coast). While ice core δ18O measurements qualitatively are a measure of the local temperature history, the δ18O variability actually reflects the integrated hydrological activity that the deposited ice experienced from the evaporation source to the condensation site. Thus, as Renland is located next to a fluctuating sea ice cover, the transfer function used to infer past temperatures from the δ18O variability is potentially influenced by variations in the local moisture conditions. The objective of this study is therefore to evaluate the δ18O variability of ice cores drilled on Renland and examine what amount that can be attributed to regional temperature variations. In the analysis, three ice cores are utilized to create stacked summer, winter and annually averaged δ18O signals (AD 1801–2014). The imprint of temperature on δ18O is first examined by correlating the δ18O stacks with instrumental temperature records from East Greenland (AD 1895–2014) and Iceland (AD 1830–2014) and with the regional climate model HIRHAM5 (AD 1980–2014). The results show that the δ18O variability correlates with regional temperatures on both a seasonal and an annual scale between 1910–2014 while δ18O is uncorrelated with Iceland temperatures between 1830–1909. Our analysis indicates that the unstable regional δ18O-temperature correlation does not result from changes in weather patterns through respectively strengthening and weakening of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Instead, the results imply that the varying δ18O-temperature relation is connected with the volume flux of sea ice exported through Fram Strait (and south along the coast of East Greenland). Notably, the δ18O variability only reflects the variations in regional temperature when the temperature anomaly is positive and the sea ice export anomaly is negative. It is hypothesized that this could be caused by a larger sea ice volume flux during cold years which suppresses the Iceland temperature signature in the Renland δ18O signal. However, more isotope-enabled modeling studies with emphasis on coastal ice caps are needed in order to quantify the mechanisms behind this observation. As the amount of Renland δ18O variability that reflects regional temperature varies with time, the results have implications for studies performing regression-based δ18O-temperature reconstructions based on ice cores drilled in the vicinity of a fluctuating sea ice cover.

Permutation entropy techniques can be useful in identifying anomalies in paleoclimate data records, including noise, outliers, and post-processing issues. We demonstrate this using weighted and unweighted permutation entropy of water-isotope records in a deep polar ice core. In one region of these isotope records, our previous calculations revealed an abrupt change in the complexity of the traces: specifically, in the amount of new information that appeared at every time step. We conjectured that this effect was due to noise introduced by an older laboratory instrument. In this paper, we validate that conjecture by re-analyzing a section of the ice core using a more-advanced version of the laboratory instrument. The anomalous noise levels are absent from the permutation entropy traces of the new data. In other sections of the core, we show that permutation entropy techniques can be used to identify anomalies in the raw data that are not associated with climatic or glaciological processes, but rather effects occurring during field work, laboratory analysis, or data post-processing. These examples make it clear that permutation entropy is a useful forensic tool for identifying sections of data that require targeted re-analysis---and can even be useful in guiding that analysis., 15 pages, 7 figures

Water isotopes in ice cores are used as a climate proxy for local temperature and regional atmospheric circulation as well as evaporative conditions in moisture source regions. Traditional measurements of water isotopes have been achieved using magnetic sector isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). However, a number of recent studies have shown that laser absorption spectrometers (LAS) perform as well or better than IRMS. The new LAS technology has been combined with continuous flow analysis (CFA) to improve data density and sample throughput in numerous prior ice coring projects. Here, we present a comparable semi-automated LAS-CFA system for measuring high-resolution water isotopes of ice cores. We outline new methods for partitioning both system uncertainty and system mixing length into liquid and vapor components – useful measures for defining and improving the overall performance of the system. Critically, our methods take into account the uncertainty of depth registration that is not present in IRMS nor fully accounted for in other CFA studies. We also explain a method for introducing consecutive sections of isotopically distinct ice at the melt head to define the system-wide mixing length. These analyses are achieved using samples from a South Pole firn core, a Greenland ice core, and the WAIS Divide ice core. The measurement system utilizes a 16-position carousel contained in a freezer to consecutively deliver ~ 1 m × 1.3 cm2 ice sticks to a temperature controlled melt head, where the ice is converted to a continuous liquid stream, and eventually vaporized using a concentric nebulizer for isotopic analysis. An integrated delivery system for water isotope standards is used for calibration to the VSMOW-SLAP scale and depth registration is achieved using a precise overhead laser distance device with an uncertainty of ±0.2 mm. As an added check on our system, we perform inter-lab LAS comparisons using WAIS Divide ice samples, a corroboratory step not taken in prior CFA studies. The overall results are important for substantiating data obtained from LAS-CFA systems, including optimizing liquid and vapor mixing lengths, determining melt rates for ice cores with different accumulation and thinning histories, and removing system-wide mixing effects that are convolved with the natural diffusional signal that results primarily from water molecule diffusion in the firn column.

Aberrant expression of microRNA-155 (miR-155) has been implicated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and associated with clinical outcome.We evaluated miR-155 expression in 198 children with normal karyotype AML (NK-AML) enrolled in Children's Oncology Group (COG) AML trial AAML0531 and correlated miR-155 expression levels with disease characteristics and clinical outcome. Patients were divided into quartiles (Q1-Q4) based on miR-155 expression level, and disease characteristics were then evaluated and correlated with miR-155 expression.MiR-155 expression varied over 4-log10-fold range relative to its expression in normal marrow with a median expression level of 0.825 (range 0.043-25.630) for the entire study cohort. Increasing miR-155 expression was highly associated with the presence of FLT3/ITD mutations (P0.001) and high-risk disease (P0.001) and inversely associated with standard-risk (P = 0.008) and low-risk disease (P = 0.041). Patients with highest miR-155 expression had a complete remission (CR) rate of 46% compared with 82% in low expressers (P0.001) with a correspondingly lower event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) (P0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively). In a multivariate model that included molecular risk factors, high miR-155 expression remained a significant independent predictor of OS (P = 0.022) and EFS (0.019).High miR-155 expression is an adverse prognostic factor in pediatric NK-AML patients. Specifically, high miR-155 expression not only correlates with FLT3/ITD mutation status and high-risk disease but it is also an independent predictor of worse EFS and OS.

This paper presents a new ignition technique to synthesize NiAl based composites using high frequency induction heating to ignite the combustion reaction. A high resolution thermal imaging camera and two infrared thermometers were used to monitor the complete temperature profiles during synthesis. Thermodynamic calculations were performed to predict the combustion temperature and the effect of preheating temperatures. The results show that the combustion reaction for Ni/Al based composites can be ignited using a high frequency induction heater. High density, multi layer TiC-NiAl composites can be produced using this method, but to ignite the combustion reaction by induction heating for the Ni/Al+Ti/C system, there is a limit for the content of Ti/C, above which the ignition will not start. Ultra fine TiC was synthesized using this technique.

Polymer foams are multi-phase materials made of a matrix material (polymer) and cells (gas). Depending on the matrix material as well as the cell microstructure, foams exhibit dramatically different properties. In the majority of polymer foam applications such as automotive, sport and packaging, foams are subjected to stresses. Recovery after relaxation of an applied stress is an important property in the subsequent behaviour of the foams. In addition, one of the primary uses for polymer based cellular solids is to act as energy-absorbing materials during impact. In reality, impacts occur over a wide range of temperatures and at velocities that may vary over many orders of magnitude and at angles of incidence that are unpredictable. Understanding the behaviour of the foam requires detailed characterisation of the foam material’s response. Many authors, including Mills1, Gibson and Ashby2, have reported on work that characterises cellular solids at the micro level using structural mechanics modelling based on assumed lattice structures. As stated by Kraynik and Warren3, the mechanical behaviour of cellular solids is dependent on the mechanical behaviour of its components. That is to say, in order to predict foam performance, the models developed must be based on an accurate description of the base polymer behaviour. However, many of these models assume that variations in base polymer properties are either simply characterised or linearly dependent with regard to environmental conditions4,5, and therefore cannot be applied to a range of foams5 or situations. As given by Mills et al.6 and Rodriguez-Perez et al.7, it is well established that the driving forces for recovery of closed cell foams are related to (i) the compressed gas inside the cells and (ii) the viscoelastic recovery of the deformed cell walls. Additionally, it is also widely known that the mechanical properties of the base polymers are sensitive to both temperature and strain rate, especially at or near to their glass transition temperatures (Tg)8. It is therefore crucial that any cellular solid performance predictions are based, not only on the understanding of the micro structure, but also on a detailed knowledge of the base polymer behaviour. For any model to be truly useful it must consistently and realistically predict the foam performance over a wide range of conditions. Of equal importance is the foam behaviour during postcompression recovery. A robust model should be consistent over a range of temperatures with regard to these parameters. This study Compression and Recovery Behaviour of Polyamide-6 Based Foams

One of the primary applications of polymer based cellular solids is to act as an energy absorbing material during impact where compressive strain rates may reach 500-800/s. In reality, impacts occur over a wide range of temperatures and velocities at different angles of incidence. Understanding and modelling the behaviour of the polymer foams requires characterisation of the material response in detail. The stress-strain response that covers both compressive and tensile behaviour for a wide range of strain rates and temperatures are needed to characterize the mechanical performance of polymer foams as polymeric foams are highly nonlinear materials that undergo large deformation in crashworthiness related cases. It is reported in literature that any increase or decrease in temperature over the glass transition region can cause changes by order of magnitude in elastic modulus of polymeric foams. However, creation of cross linking at high temperature can affect the elastic modulus. In this work, the behaviour of two, polyamide-6 (PA-6) based closed cell foams at elevated temperatures were investigated covering the glass transition temperature. This work presents the variation of elastic and tangent modulus of two low densities PA-6 and PA-6/polyolefin (Nylon alloy) based foams. Empirical equations have been proposed to allow the prediction of modulus over a temperature range of 23°C to 120°C for these materials.

Intermetallic NiAl has the potential to be used for elevated temperature applications. To date different ignition techniques have been utilized to synthesize NiAl and produce coatings. Self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) has been developed as a relatively simple route to obtain intermetallics. This paper considers using induction heating to preheat and ignite the synthesis directly and investigates the effect of processing parameters on the phase transformation, microstructures and properties of Ni/Al compacts synthesized by SHS. The results show that single phase NiAl can be produced by induction heating whilst processing parameters such as heating rates and green densities have a significant effect on the properties and structures of sintered products.

The aim of this work was to develop a new process for the synthesis of TiC and NiAl/TiC composite in which the combustion reaction was ignited using a high frequency induction heater. High density, two-layer TiC–NiAl composites were also produced using this process. Temperature profiles during synthesis were measured with an IR thermometer and a high resolution thermal image camera was used to monitor the reaction process. Phase transformation was investigated using XRD and SEM was used to characterize the microstructure of the synthesized composites. The mechanical properties of the products were evaluated by measuring hardness. The results show that the reaction was complete and that stoichiometric products of NiAl and TiC were produced. The properties of NiAl/TiC composites were found to be functions of composition and processing parameters. The reaction mechanism was analyzed using temperature monitoring, thermodynamic analysis and microstructure investigation.

Combustion synthesis of NiAl requires the combustion reaction to be ignited and fully controlled to maintain the geometry of the compressed parts. This paper describes a new ignition process using induction heating and investigates the effect of Al 2 O 3 on both the combustion synthesis process and the performance of the synthesized products. A high frequency induction heater was used to ignite the synthesis reaction. During synthesis the temperature profiles were measured with infrared thermometers to monitor the reaction process and X-ray Diffraction was used to investigate the phase transformation. The results show that single phase NiAl can be produced by this new process regardless of the addition of Al 2 O 3 . However, the addition of Al 2 O 3 was found to have a significant effect on heating rates, combustion behaviour and properties of the synthesized products. Additionally, there is a critical concentration for Al 2 O 3 above which the compacts cannot be ignited by induction heating. Mechanical properties of the products were tested to evaluate the performance of the synthesized composites.

It is a fundamental response of any polymeric foam material to undergo non-recoverable deformation following the application of a defined compressive strain, exacerbated by temperature and humidity. This process is commonly referred to as compression set. The ability to predict recovery after the application of a compressive strain is crucial to both the manufacturers and end users of foam materials. Specific compression set test procedures have been established to quantify the extent of non-recoverable deformation in specific foam types but to date no general predictive approach exists. In this work, compression set (fixed strain) tests were undertaken on a cellular polyamide-6 material at various temperatures (-5°C to 90°C) and the foam recovery monitored over time periods in excess of those dictated by standard methods (ISO 1856 [1]). An empirical formula has been proposed to allow the prediction of recovery after compressive strain, covering recovery periods from 10 minutes to 24 hours (up to 168 hours at 23°C).

The expression of the rodent phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C δ-4 (PLCδ4) has been found to be elevated upon mitogenic stimulation and expression analysis have linked the upregulation of PLCδ4 expression with rapid proliferation in certain rat transformed cell lines. The human homologue of PLCδ4 has not been extensively characterized. Accordingly, we investigate the effects of overexpression of human PLCδ4 on cell signaling and proliferation in this study. The cDNA for human PLCδ4 has been isolated and expressed ectopically in breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Overexpression of PLCδ4 selectively activates protein kinase C-φ and upregulates the expression of epidermal growth factor receptors EGFR/erbB1 and HER2/erbB2, leading to constitutive activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) pathway in MCF-7 cells. MCF-7 cells stably expressing PLCδ4 demonstrates several phenotypes of transformation, such as rapid proliferation in low serum, formation of colonies in soft agar, and capacity to form densely packed spheroids in low-attachment plates. The growth signaling responses induced by PLCδ4 are not reversible by siRNA. Overexpression or dysregulated expression of PLCδ4 may initiate oncogenesis in certain tissues through upregulation of ErbB expression and activation of ERK pathway. Since the growth responses induced by PLCδ4 are not reversible, PLCδ4 itself is not a suitable drug target, but enzymes in pathways activated by PLCδ4 are potential therapeutic targets for oncogenic intervention.

(1998). Arts Management and Marketing Research: Commentar. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society: Vol. 28, Arts Management and Marketing Research, pp. 3-3.

The influence of the order in which questions are asked of witnesses was tested with four question orders. When answering the same questions about a film, witnesses were more accurate if the question order followed the time sequence of the film or began with questions on the central characters than if questioning first concerned the main event, or was randomly ordered. It is argued that the question orders eliciting better recall match the organization of the information entered in memory. The correlations between a free account of the film and the accuracy and amount recalled with questions were less than 0·3, indicating that a good witness in one condition may not be so if tested in a different way.

Pain following total hip replacement is a significant clinical and diagnostic problem. Technetium scanning has proved a sensitive indicator of infection or loosening but does not differentiate between them. This study assessed the value of gallium-67 to aid this differentiation. Thirty patients underwent revision surgery. Fourteen were proven to be infected and 13 had positive gallium scans as also did two patients without infection. The implications of these false interpretations are discussed. Increased gallium activity was correlated with the patterns of the 99m Tc scans and arthrographic appearances. It is concluded that gallium-67 scanning is a valuable adjunct to the assessment of the painful hip replacement when infection is suspected.

This study compared the ability of language learning disabled children and sex/age matched normals to judge the correctness of linguistic stress. Subjects were presented with prerecorded pairs of question-answer trials. In one series they were asked to judge the appropriateness of linguistic stress for each pair. In a second series, they judged semantic appropriateness of the pairs in order to provide a linguistic point of reference for their understanding of the questions. An analysis of variance indicated that the linguistic stress task was more difficult than the semantic interpretation task (p less than .001) and that normal children performed significantly better than LD children on both tasks (p less than .05). Discussion of the data includes interpretation from both perceptual deficit and symbolic deficit perspectives.